Liquid detergents comprising microcapsules are very appealing to consumers. The inclusion of microcapsules in liquid detergents is desirable not only for aesthetic reasons but also for functional reasons such as isolation of incompatible ingredients, controlled and/or delayed release, etc. Ideally, the microcapsules are stably suspended in the liquid detergent and only dissolve/disintegrate in-use.
Since consumers generally desire a clean and fresh odor whenever they open the package and smell the product, as well as at later points in their laundering experience such as a clean and fresh odor in the laundry room, and on laundered clothing, perfume microcapsules have been used in consumer products to improve fragrance deposition, retention and longevity.
One problem encountered with the production of liquid detergents comprising encapsulated actives is that the distribution of the encapsulated actives within the liquid matrix needs to be controlled so that the encapsulated actives do not overly float, sink or otherwise gravitate during processing, when packaged for later processing with other ingredients, or when in a packaged consumer product. In order to properly disperse and suspend the encapsulated actives with the liquid matrix, structuring agents can be introduced into the composition. There are number of compounds which can provide structuring benefits.
Known external structuring agents include polymers or gums such as gellan gum, alginate, carrageenan, xanthan gum, and guar gum. Although gums have been used to provide structuring benefits, the gums have been found to be undesirable due to any pH and electrolyte level sensitivity which can decrease their structuring capacity or lead to other undesirable issues such as composition opacity or gelling or clumping of product.
As disclosed in WO2010/048154 A2 bacterial celluloses or non-polymeric crystalline hydroxyl-functional materials also provide structuring benefits.
A drawback of many external structurants is their need for special processing conditions. In addition, many external structurants have to be used in high amounts in order to provide the desired structuring effect.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid detergent comprising encapsulated actives, wherein the encapsulated actives are stably suspended and wherein the liquid detergent can be manufactured in an easy and cheap way.
This object is achieved by a structured liquid composition comprising:    (a) anionic surfactant at a level of from 10% up to 25% by weight of said composition, said anionic surfactant comprising linear alkylbenzene sulphonate and fatty alcohol ether sulfate;    (b) nonionic surfactant at a level of from 5% up to 15% by weight of said composition,    (c) a structurant at a level of from 0.1% to 2% by weight of said composition, said structurant comprising a cross-linked acrylic copolymer;    (d) a plurality of encapsulated actives at a level of from 0.05% up to 0.22% by weight of said composition, wherein the encapsulated actives have a d90 value of below 20 μm.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.